Hello from Target Field, where once again it is overcast and in the 50s. Game might be delayed due to rain.
The big news today, of course, is the debut of Jose Berrios, who was named the second best prospect entering 2016 by Baseball America. They also said he had the best curveball, best changeup and best control in the system.
“It is a big day,” said manager Paul Molitor. “You have one of your top prospects making his major league debut, and in today’s world, the buildup for these young guys is a lot different than it was 10-20 years ago. Everyone knows about this kid.”
Last season he was the recipient of the Jim Rantz Award as the Twins minor league Pitcher of the Year. He had a combined record of 14-5 with a 2.87 ERA (166.1 IP, 53 ER) with 38 walks and 175 strikeouts in Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Rochester.
“Our optimism lies in the ability to be in the last couple of Spring Trainings, we’ve seen maturity in how he handles himself on the mound, the calmness with which he goes about his business,” added Molitor. “And the fact that he’s been able to harness his pitches a little bit better, as far as consistency and trusting his stuff.”
He is 21 years and 338 days old, meaning he is the youngest Twin to make a start since Pat Mahomes in 1992 (21 years, 247 days).
“We saw him, down in spring, have some really good outings,” continued Molitor. “I know one day when I saw him on the back fields, he was having trouble on his arm side, in terms of getting in on righties or hitting that corner away from lefties. So that has to do with where he puts that fastball.
“He’s got secondary pitches that he can use when he’s behind, which is a nice trait for a young pitcher; trusting that he can get back into counts with off-speed stuff. But obviously the key for almost anybody, especially a young guy, they have to be able to throw that fastball and put it in a good spot.”
He will face off against righty Josh Tomlin (2-0, 1.54 ERA) of the Cleveland Indians. The Twins are looking to sweep the Tribe after two walk-off wins following a 1-4 road trip. It would be their second sweep of the season.
Here is today’s lineup:
Digging out of a hole
The Twins are 7-14 after an 0-9 start. They were 9-12 at this point last season, according to LaVelle E. Neal of the Star Tribune.
Now they have to crawl back with multiple players on the disabled list and a slew of young pitchers — Berrios, Alex Meyer, Tyler Duffey, etc. — looking to get starts.
“It’s kinda like we talked about after the 0-9, is that you can play good baseball here for a couple of months and just find yourself getting back hopefully to .500,” said Molitor. “It’s not something, at least it rarely happens, where you get them all back very quickly. It’s a process.”
He said he tells the guys to “Just go about your business and try to find a way to win series; when you get a chance to sweep, try to get greedy and peck your way back into this thing.”
On whether last year’s experience of starting 1-6 could help them out, Molitor said it could, but each year is it’s own animal.
“I do think that having experience of being a part of a team that did bounce back numerous times is helpful for some of these guys. But your point as to the unpredictability of the game and what might happen this year compared to last, it’s hard to go there,” he said.
“I do know that out of the 21 teams we’ve played, it’s been one and two run games (15 of them), that’s been the norm. When you can start to sway the ledger on how those outcomes are in terms of percentage of those close games that you win, that will certainly help our cause of trying to get back into a more competitive position.”
Sano the third baseman
Sano is back at third today, due to Trevor Plouffe being on the disabled list.
“His reaction was we got that big Miggy smile, he said he was ready and tells me he loves third base and all that kind of stuff,” said Molitor.
“I think he misses being in the infield, that’s what he’s done his whole life. He’s been a good soldier about right field, but there’s something about him that I know he really enjoys the opportunity, even if it’s in the short term, to get a couple games out there defensively at third.”
Odds are, however, he’s going back in the outfield once Plouffe comes off the DL.
“You know, we kinda stayed away from it for a while, and then we got to the point where we had to consider it as an option, just out of common sense and looking at our personnel and how it fits right now.”
A Santana spark
Danny Santana is on top of the lineup once again after coming off the disabled list.
“He’s given us a little spark,” said Molitor. “I like the fact that he seems to be a lot freer, mentally, about his game. I don’t think he’s having the internal discussions with himself about questioning his ability or things of that nature. He just seems to be going up there confident that he’s gonna get a good pitch, and he’s gonna hit it hard somewhere.”
Jepsen is safe for now
Twins closer Kevin Jepsen blew his third save of the season yesterday, but Molitor says he’s sticking with his man.
“You talk about the games that haven’t gone his way, whether it’s been one pitch or one call or one play, it’s been a really fine line,” he said. “And when we’re playing one-run games like we have been, that’s all it takes to blow a save every now and then. Like I said last night, I don’t really have any other plans.
“The other guys are doing fine. Trevor’s had good outings and bad outings, Pressly’s obviously been impressive all year. But my choice is I’m sticking with Kevin.”
That’s all for now.
Be sure to follow Brandon (@Brandon_Warne) and I (@tschreier3) for Twins coverage all season long.
